The former head of the sewerage division at Yangcheon-gu Office, who received a disciplinary reprimand over the 2019 Mokdong rainwater pumping station submergence accident, has lost his lawsuit in the first instance challenging the disciplinary action.

The 6th Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Na Jin-i) ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by A, the former head of the Yangcheon-gu Office sewerage division, seeking to cancel the reprimand issued by the head of Yangcheon-gu Office.

In July 2019, three site inspection workers were swept away by rainwater that flowed into a 40-meter-deep underground waterway at the Mokdong rainwater pumping station (Sinwol rainwater storage and drainage facility) construction site in Yangcheon-gu.

Two subcontractor employees went down into the waterway for an inspection despite heavy rain forecasts and met their demise.

Another employee from the construction company also lost his life after entering the waterway to alert them to the danger.

A, who was in charge of operating the Sinwol rainwater storage and drainage facility at Yangcheon-gu Office at the time, received a one-month pay cut in 2023. However, after filing an appeal for administrative review, the Local Public Officials Appeals Commission reduced the penalty to a reprimand.

Dissatisfied even with the reprimand, A filed an administrative lawsuit later that year.

During the trial, A argued that he had no management responsibilities or authority regarding the construction work carried out inside the tunnel, and therefore checking whether workers entered was not his duty.

However, the first instance court dismissed A's claim, ruling that the grounds for disciplinary action were recognized.

The court stated, "Considering the weather conditions and the progress of the construction at the time, the plaintiff had a official duty to take safety measures—such as checking for the presence of workers inside the storage and drainage tunnel and establishing an information-sharing system to allow workers to evacuate when rainwater flowed in—but failed to fulfill these duties."

In particular, the court judged that because A was well aware of the construction progress, the operation method of the facility including floodgate control, and the weather conditions around the time of the accident, he could have also anticipated the possibility of an accident occurring.

The court noted, "The facility is a large-scale rainwater collection and discharge facility introduced for the first time in Korea, and around the time of the accident, it was undergoing joint operation for test runs and handover." It added, "He had a duty to take measures such as temporarily adjusting the work system of the employees under the sewerage division under his supervision, or at least recommending that such a work system be implemented to the person holding appointment authority."

Meanwhile, A was also indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, receiving a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year in the first instance, and is currently undergoing a second-instance trial after appealing.
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)